"Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed"

Willems, M. (2009). Naked mole rat gets dressed. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

Readability Lexile: AD470L

Intended Audience: Ages 5-8

Setting: The Colony of naked mole rats.

Theme: Being who you are.

Characters: Wilbur, Grand pah mole rat, and all the other mole rats.

Summary: Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed is another Children's book from Mo Willems. This one deals with being true to who you are. Naked Mole Rats are first of all, Naked. Wilbur decides he likes wearing clothes until he is confronted by his Naked Mole Rat friends who tease him for being different. After all, everyone else in the colony is naked.

His friends try to convince him that Naked Mole Rats are supposed to be naked and that he should stop wearing clothes, but when Wilbur does not heed the advice, they take the issue to Grand-pah, the oldest and wisest of all the Naked Mole Rats. When Grand-pah tells Wilbur he should not be wearing clothes, Wilbur asks "why not?" 

Grand-pah carefully weighs the question until he realizes that there is no good reason why Naked Mole Rats cannot wear clothes. Grand-pah calls the entire colony together to hear his proclamation and when the colony has assembled, Grand-pah proclaims that wearing clothes is an individual choice and if Wilbur wants to wear clothes, let him wear clothes. From that day on, some wore clothes and some did not, but Wilbur was always well dressed. 

Because this book displays that an individuals choice as to what he wears or does is up to the individual and should not be subject to peer pressure, it sends a strong message to children that it is okay to be different. The fact that you need not always travel with the current, but that sometimes it is okay to swim against it allows children to be themselves.

The AD in the readability lexile is another quality issue in this book. The Adult Directed rating will allow a parent or teacher to explain the dilemma and show that not only is it okay to be yourself, but also not to force your opinions on others. For the reasons stated above, this book meets the requirements of high quality literature set forth by Norton (2011)